Plunger device



y 8, 1968 J. K GREGSTON 3,385,222

PLUNGER DEVICE Filed March 6, 1967 4 74 INVENTOR. 78 JERRY K. GREGSTON BY 2 MARCUS L. BATES United States Patent 3,385,222 PLUNGER DEVTQE Jerry K. Gregstoii, 3609 Brentwoorl, Odessa, Tex. 797% Filed Mar. 6, 1967, Ser. No. 620,737 Claims. (Cl. 103-52) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A plunger, or free piston, which is received in close tolerance relationship within the eduction tube of a well bore hole. The plunger is fabricated into an upper cylindrical body, a lower cylindrical body, and a rotatable reciprocating centrally located main or movable body member. The plunger is provided with longitudinally extending passageways extending therethrough. Upon the plunger striking a stop means provided at the upper and lower extremity of the eduction tube, inertia moves the main body member in a reciprocating and rotational manner to thereby open or close the passageways. In the open position the plunger is free to fall through a column of fluid. In the closed position the plunger acts as a piston to lift a column of fluid located in the tube.

Background Plunger lift apparatus for lifting well fluid by means of a free traveling plunger which travels in a reciprocating manner within an eduction tube to thereby lift Well fluid are known in the art. The vertical movement of the plunger within the eduction tube lifts fluid and also maintains the tube wall free of foreign material as the plunger travels up and down within the bore hole. The plunger travels the full distance from a stop means located above the ground at the top of the tube to a stop means located at the bottom of the tubing. Plungers usually are provided with a controllable passageway for controlling the flow of fluid therethrough in a manner to allow the plunger to pass downwardly in a free falling manner through the well fluid. When the plunger reaches the bottom of the eduction tube, it strikes the lower stop means whereupon the controllable passageway is closed, and the plunger remains on the bottom a sufficient time interval to permit fluid pressure to build up beneath the plunger. When the outflow valve of the well is opened, the differential in pressure across the plunger forces the plunger vertically upward together with the column or slug of fluid located in the tubing above the plunger.

The operation of the plunger is regulated from the surface by opening and closing the before mentioned outflow valve which is generally attached near the terminal end of the eduction tube. When the valve is opened, the plunger travels upwardly until it reaches the upper limit of travel in the tubing, whereupon it generally abuts a suitable stop means, with the stop means conventionally actuating the outflow valve to the closed position, thereby allowing the plunger to freely fall to the stop located at the bottom of the eduction tube.

Most plungers are fabricated in a manner that requires a multiplicity of movable parts. The multiplicity of parts heretofore found necessary in plunger design often are damaged and torn from the plunger where they fall to the bottom of the eduction tube. When the plunger acts in this manner, an undesirable and costly fishing job is brought about, as well as loss in production. Furthermore, plungers of the past art are sometimes complex in design and do not always perform satisfactorily under the stringent conditions of usage to which they are subjected.

Summary It is therefore desirable to provide a plunger that is 3,385,222 Patented May 28, 158

rugged in construction, economical to fabricate, simple and efficient in operation, and comprised of a minimum of parts that cannot fall apart, even after they have become significantly worn. A plunger having these desirable attributes is taught by the present disclosure, and includes an axially disposed mandrel having an integral circumferential y depending aperture member associated with the upper free end thereof which forms an upper cylindrical body part of the device. A depending cylindrical apertured lower portion is rigidly attached to the lower free end of the mandrel and forms the bottommost part of the plunger, while a rotatable reciprocating apertured centrally located cylindrical main or movable body member is held captive between the upper and lower body members and cooperates with the lower member in a manner to open and close the passageways associated therewith upon the plunger striking an upper and lower stop means associated with the depending ends of an eduction tube. A slotted spiral guide means is provided in the mandrel which cooperates with a captive biased pin member provided in the main cylindrical body to thereby rotate the main member as it reciprocates with respect to the upper and lower body members. Accordingly, as the plunger lifts a slug of fluid during its upward travel in an eduction tube, the uppermost end of the mandrel strikes a stop means at the top of the eduction tube, and inertia causes the rotatable reciprocating main or movable body member to move into the upper position to thereby align the various passageways of the plunger, thereby allowing the plunger to drop back to the bottom of the eduction tube. Upon arriving at the bottom of the eduction tube, the bottommost part of the plunger strikes a lower stop means, whereupon inertia causes the rotational reciprocating member to return to the lower position wherein the passageways of the plunger are closed, and accordingly the plunger can then lift a column of fluid, in a piston-like manner, as it travels back to the top of the eduction tube. The device continues to cycle in this manner.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention is to provide a plunger having all of the above desirable at tributes and features.

Another object of this invention is to provide a plunger that depends upon arresting motion, or momentum, to actuate passageways associated therewith from closed to open position, and vice versa.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a plunger having a reciprocating, rotatable member associated therewith that opens and closes passageways therein as it reaches the limit of travel in an eduction tube of a well.

Another important object of this invention is the provision of a plunger adapted to travel in an eduction tube of a Well, that has means associated with a centrally located body member thereof that imparts rotational and reciprocatory motion to the member upon the plunger striking a stop means at either extremity of the eduction tube to thereby increase or decrease the resistance of the plunger to fluid flow.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a plunger having a minimum number of parts that are assembled in a manner to preclude disassembly thereof while the plunger is undergoing normal usage.

The above objects are attained in accordance with the present invention by the provision of a plunger which is provided with longitudinally extending passageways, an upper cylindrical body, a lower cylindrical body, and a rotatable reciprocating centrally located main body member. The last recited member controls the flow of fluid through the plunger.

Other objects of the present invention will become 3 apparent to those skilled in the art after having viewed the remainder of the disclosure.

Brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, with the device being shown in the closed or fluid lifting position, with some parts not sectioned for clarity.

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view, similar to the illustration seen in FIGURE 1, but with the device shown in the opened and free falling position.

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 44 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a crosssectional view taken along line 55 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary representation of a portion of the device seen in FIGURES 1 and 2.

Description of the preferred embodiment Looking now to the details of the drawings, wherein there is illustrated a free piston type fluid lift device, hereinafter called a plunger, as illustrated by the arrow at numeral 10, the plunger 19 is illustrated as being in the closed, or fluid lifting position, while the plunger illustrated by the arrow at numeral 12 is illustrated as being in the opened or free falling position.

The plunger is comprised of a centrally located mandrel 14 having an upper face 16 on the upper abutment means of the plunger. The mandrel includes a neck portion 18 that is outwardly sloped in the illustrated manner to form an upper cylindrical body 2t} integrally attached thereto and circumferentially disposed in a downwardly depending manner therefrom. The mandrel continues longitudinally through the central axis of the plunger and includes an inside mandrel portion 22 that is provided with a threaded lower end 24 at the lowermost depending end portion thereof. The lower threaded end 24 cooperates with a threaded bore 25. A spiraled slot 26 is included in the mandrel, with dimples or detents 28 defining each extremity of the slot. The lower cylindrical body portion 30 terminates in a lower abutment to form a face 32 which is disposed at the lower extremity of the mandrel and includes a multiplicity of radially disposed passageways 34. The lower cylindrical body portion includes an upstanding cylindrical skirt 36 that upwardly depends from a cone shaped face that forms a valve element at 38. A complementary cone shaped valve element 40 has an outer periphery defined by a reduced area 42 that is slidably received within the before mentioned upstanding cylindrical skirt 36.

A second multiplicity of passageways 44 are provided in spaced apart relationship radially disposed about the centrally located drilled passageway 46. The mandrel is slidably received by the drilled passageway. The inside peripheral wall surface 48 of the main or movable cylindrical body portion 50 terminates in an upstanding cylindrical skirt 51 that is defined by a shoulder 52. The depending upper terminal end portion of the skirt is seen at numeral 54. A circumferentially inwardly directed reinforcing rib 56 is positioned about the inside peripheral wall of thmain body and forms a first annular chamber 58 circumferentially disposed between the mandrel and the main body. The downwardly depending skirt 60 terminates at abutment 62 to receive the before mentioned upstanding skirt 51 in close tolerance relationship therewithin. A second annular chamber is formed above rib 56 at 63. Passageways 64 are provided at the upper extremity and communicate with annular chamber 58. While the passageways 34, 4-4, and 64 are illustrated as being within the marginal edge portion formed by the outer peripheral surface of the plunger, they could very well be located along, or in intersecting relationship with this peripheral surface, in the form of grooves or the like.

The main cylindrical body portion 50 includes a threaded housing that is removably aflixed to the body by means of threads 72. A removable plug 74 resiliently maintains a guide pin 76 biased into the illustrated extended position by means of compression spring 78.

Operation FIGURE 1 illustrates the plunger in the fluid lifting condition with the ports 34 being closed with respect to ports 44. When the plunger of FIGURE 1 reaches the extreme length of upward travel within an eduction tube, the upper face 16 of the mandrel strikes an abutment, whereupon inertia permits the movable part 50 to continue to travel causing the pin 76 to be displaced from the dimple at the lower extremity of slot 26 and moved to the upper dimple 28. Accordingly, the movable cylindrical body portion 50 moves to the upper position illus' trated in FIGURE 2. Upon the device assuming the position of FIGURE 2, passageways 34 and 44 are aligned with respect to each other to thereby provide a multiplicity of aligned passageways through which fluid may enter by means of lower inlet passageway 34. Stated r differently, the conical valve faces 38 and 40 are moved to the open position. The fluid is now free to pass through passageway 34 into the annulus formed by skirt 36 and the mandrel, into passageway 44, into annular area 58, whereupon the fluid continues to flow into the chamber formed by the upwardly depending reduced area 51 and the mandrel, then through passageways 64 and out of the plunger. Accordingly, upon passageways 34 and 44 being aligned by the action of the main cylindrical body portion, as illustrated in FIGURE 2, the device offers a low resistance to fluid flow, and therefore can freely drop through a column of fluid within the eduction tube until it strikes the stop means located at the bottom of the tube.

It should be noted that the annular rib 56 forms an orifice-like piston that moves fluid through passageways 64, while tending to pull fluid through passageways 34, and vice versa, depending upon the direction of travel. This action tends to provide a recoil to thereby control the severity of impact as each face, 16 and 32 respectively, strikes the upper and lower stop of the eduction tube, respectively. Accordingly, the annular space between rib 56 and the outer peripheral surface of the mandrel at 22 can be selected to decelerate the relative motion of the main cylindrical member with respect to the impact received at the stop at 52, 62 and 37, 38, and 40, as well as to control the impact of the device as a whole.

Upon the plunger striking the stop means located within the bottom of the eduction tube, the inertia of the device causes the main cylindrical body portion to be driven downwardly with a rotational movement in accordance with the configuration of slot 26, whereupon the device again assumes the closed position illustrated in FIGURE 1. Passageways 34 and 44 are now misaligned with respect to each other and accordingly, fluid cannot flow through the device. The plunger remains resting against the lower stop means of the eduction tube until a conventional outflow valve associated with the well is again opened. This action causes a dilference in pressure across the plunger to again cause upward travel of the device. Upon the plunger reaching the top of the eduction tube, the upper face 16 again strikes the upper stop means provided therefor, and the sequence of events outlined above again takes place. The device continues to cycle in this manner.

It should be noted that the mandrel 14 is rigidly attached to the lower cylindrical body portion 30 by means of the threaded lower end 24 thereof, and that the upper cylindrical body portion 20 is an integral part of the mandrel. The main cylindrical body portion 50 is free to reciprocate similar to a piston since it is captured by the downwardly depending skirt 60 and upstanding cylindrical skirt 36, as well as being guidably received about the mandrel by the drilled passageway 46. Accordingly, the main cylindrical body portion reciprocates in a longitudinal direction with respect to the mandrel. Since the main cylindrical body portion is guidably pinned to the mandrel by means of the slot 26 and pin 76, the main body portion is rotated as it recipr-ocates, with the amount of rotation being determined by the configuration of the slot 26. Accordingly, the slot 26 preferably extends in a spiral manner about the outer peripheral surface of the mandrel 22 with an angular displacement of approximately twenty-two and one-half degrees so as to impart a rotational movement to the main cylindrical body portion 50, with respect to the lower cylindrical body portion 30, to thereby align passageways 34 and 44 in a first position, and to misalign the passageways in a second position. Upper and lower detents 28 receive the pin 76 as the pin reaches the extremity of travel in each direction, to thereby maintain the main cylindrical body portion reelasably locked at each extremity of travel.

The terminal end 54 of skirt 51 cooperates in an abutting manner with shoulder 62 of the upper cylindrical member to form an upper stop means for the main body 50. The lower valve face 38 and terminal end 37 of skirt 36 abuts the upper valve face 40, and the shoulder formed by reduced area 42, respectively, to jointly form a lower stop means for main body 50. Accordingly, pin 76 functions to guide and releasably hold main body portion 50, while the recited elements take the shock of the arresting energy of the device. Accordingly,'the distance between spaced apart detents 28 of slot 26 must be an amount that precludes the pin and slot from adsorbing the shock of the arresting energy, except the small amount of energy inherently adsorbed in providing the function of rotating the main member.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of my invention, the means by which the present invention can be practiced is not to be construed as being limited to the foregoing disclosure, but rather is to be considered only in light of the appended claims. Therefore, what I deem to be the metes and bounds of my intellectual property is set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a well pumping apparatus including an eduction tube having an inlet and an outlet, a valve for controlling the flow of fluid through the outlet, a stop means near said outlet, an abutment means near the inlet, the improvement comprising:

a plunger slidably received within the eduction tube, said plunger having a mandrel including an upper body porit-on and a lower body portion;

a movable body portion reciprocatingly received about said mandrel between said upper and lower body portions;

means forming a passageway extending through said upper body portion, means forming a passageway through said movable body portion, means forming a passageway through said lower body portion;

guide means associated with said mandrel and said movable body portion to thereby guidably misalign each said passageway with respect to each other when said movable body portion is in one position and to align each said passageway with respect to each other when said movable body portion is in a second position.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said mandrel includes an upper terminal end, a central inside portion, and a lower depending end to thereby form a longitudinally extending member having an upper face at the upper terminal end thereof;

said upper body portion being an integral part of said mandrel and circumferentially extending therefrom, and including a downwardly depending skirt defining the lower extremity of said upper body portion;

said mandrel having attachment means at said lower depending end rigidly attached to said lower body portion;

said lower body portion circumferentially extending from said attachment means to describe a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of said upper body portion, and including an upwardly depending skirt defining the upper extremity of said lower body portion;

said movable body portion having means cooperating with said skirt to provide for the recited reciprocatory action.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said movable body portion includes a rib circumferentially disposed about and inwardly depending from the inside peripheral surface thereof, to thereby form a reduced annular area to control the rate of movement of said movable body with respect to said mandrel.

4. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said lower body portion has guide means upstanding therefrom and said upper body portion has guide means downwardly depending therefrom:

said movable body portion includes means forming upper and lower guide means at the upper and lower extremity thereof;

said lower body portion guide means and said upper body portion guide means receive said lower and said upper guide means respectively of said movable body portion to thereby permit said main body portion to reciprocate with respect to said mandrel.

5. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said guide means includes first guide means on said movable body;

second guide means in said mandrel;

said first and sec-ond guide means cooperate together to impart a rotational motion between said mandrel and said movable body portion as said movable body portion reciprocates longitudinally with respect to said mandrel.

6. The improvement of claim 5 wherein said first guide means includes a pin diametrically extending through said movable body portion:

said second guide means includes a helical slot in said mandrel;

said pin being received within said slot; whereby:

reciprocatory motion of said movable body portion with respect to said mandrel causes rotational motion to be imparted to said movable body portion with respect to said mandrel, upper body portion, and lower body portion.

7. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said guide means associated with said movable body includes first guide means;

second guide means in said mandrel;

said first guide means includes a pin diametrically extending through said movable body portion;

said second guide means includes a helical slot in said mandrel;

longitudinally extending passageways radially spaced about said mandrel and within said lower body portion, said movable body portion, and said upper body portion:

said passageways being aligned when said movable body portion is reciprocated to an uppermost position;

said passageways being misaligned when said movable body portion is reciprocated to a lowermost position; whereby:

fluid flows through said plunger when said passageways are aligned with respect to each other, and fluid cannot flow through said plunger when the passageways are misaligned with respect to each other.

8. The combination of claim 1 wherein said mandrel includes an upper terminal end, a central inside portion, a lower depending end assembled to form a longitudinally extending member having an upper face at the upper terminal end thereof;

said upper body portion being an integral part of said mandrel and eircumferentially extending therefrom, a downwardly depending skirt defining the lower exemity of said upper body portion;

said mandrel having attachment means at said lower depending end rigidly attached to said lower body portion;

said lower body portion cir-cumferentially extending from said attachment means to describe a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of said upper body portion;

said lower body portion having means forming an upstanding skirt at the upper extremity thereof;

said movable body portion having an upper and lower end portion with said upper end portion being received within said skirt of said upper body, and said lower end portion being received within said skirt of said lower body portion; whereby:

said upper and lower skirts hold said movable body portion guidably captured while permitting said main body portion to reciprocate therein.

9. The improvement of claim 8 wherein said movable body portion is provided with means forming a biased pin diametrically extending through a side wall thereof;

means forming a helical slot in said mandrel with spaced apart dimples therein and with the length of said slot being defined by said dimples;

said pin received in said slot with said pin cooperating with one said dimple to thereby releasably hold said movable body positioned with respect to said mandrel a distance determined by the spaced apart distance of said dimples; said downwardly depending skirt of said upper member cooperating with said upper end portion of said movable body to form an upper stop means; said upstanding skirt of said lower body member cooperating with said lower end portion of said movable body to form a lower stop means; the last recited upper and lower stop means limiting the longitudinal travel of said movable body mem her with respect to said mandrel, while said pin and slot simultaneously imparts a rotational motion between said movable body member and said mandrel; whereby: impact of the plunger while traveling in one direction rotationally and reciprocatingly moves the movable body member to open said passageways, while impact in an opposite direction rotationally and reciprocatingly moves the movable body member to close said passageways. 10. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said movable body portion includes an inside peripheral wall having a rib formed thereon which cooperates with said mandrel to form a reduced annulus for controlling the flow of fluid therethrough.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ROBERT M. WALKER, Primary Examiner. 

